Page 86 of Fan Favorite

Just days ago, he’d been in Santa Barbara for Bailey’s lock-in. They’d ridden horses at sunset. Cooked vegan enchiladas with her mom. Played pickleball on the home court with her dad. Made s’mores by the firepit and kissed under the stars. Every moment there felt right. She was beautiful and patient and sweet, and they talked abouteverything. And then, when the cameras were finally gone and they were cuddling in bed together, he didn’t even try to sleep with her, even though he really fucking wanted to, because Bailey wasn’t just one of the four remaining contestants, she was one in a million. Bennett wasn’t even sure if Bailey would say yes. But hewassure that the reason he’d endured all this trauma was to find The One. And she was it.

Now it struck Bennett that maybe Edie leaving wasn’t a problem.

Maybe Edie leaving was anopportunity.

“Is it the worst thing if Edie is gone?” he began, trying to sound nonchalant. Production had never stopped pushing the “Bennett gets engaged to Edie” storyline, and even though he loved Edie, he knew now it was more friendship than romance. Could they have a life together? Probably a great one. She was a solid, steady choice. But Bailey, that’s who he was crazy for. “Because I’ve been meaning to talk to you about Bailey. Maybe it’s okay—”

“No, it’s not fuckingokay,” Carole seethed.

Carole pulled a MacBook out of her bag. She proceeded to unveil a PowerPoint deck synthesizing the latest press, social media chatter, data, and metrics. Quickly it became clear that without even trying, Edie had captured the hearts of all the gals and gays in America. Fan accounts, trending tweets, tabloid articles, TikTok tutorials (“Get Edie Pepper’s No-Look Look in 5 Minutes or Less!”), media mentions, and soaring ratings.Next slide.Even her gifs and memes were adorable.Next slide.His were mockery. Bennett crying. Bennett with a bloodied nose. Bennett tripping off his motorcycle.Next slide.The Q Score that measured his brand appeal had tanked.Next slide. The countless tweets that made him out to be, on a good day, a callous player, and on a bad one, borderline #MeToo.Next slide, next slide, next slide.

Peter had told Bennett that there’d been a lot of gossip and social media chatter after Zo left—they’d had him put out that statement on Instagram (well, they’d had him provide his login info so they could put out that statement on his Instagram)—but the sheer amount of hate wasstaggering.

Instead of a tough, sexy mountain man, he was pathetic. And everyone knew it. A very old fear washed over him. No one liked him. No one hadeverliked him.

“Do you understand what I just showed you?” Carole asked.

He nodded.

“No. You don’t.” Carole leaned forward and looked him dead in the eye. “We gave you an entire television show, millions of eyeballs, and a PR machine, and you still managed to fuck it up with your dumb ideas and dirty dick. You shit the bed. Because you were certain you knew better.” She sat back and crossed her legs, one elegant stiletto casually arcing through the air. “You handed the show to Edie Pepper.” She snapped the laptop shut. “Do you get it now?She’sthe one America is obsessed with.She’sthe star. You made yourselfirrelevant.”

Bennett thought he might vomit. Just a second ago he thought he might walk out of here with Bailey and that all his wildest dreams could come true. But now, the idea of rejoining the real world as the most hated man in America was nauseating.

“So, Bennett, tell me, because I’d love to know,” Carole said now. “How are we going to have a finale when no one gives a shit about you or your love story?” She placed her claws on his forearm and snapped him to attention. “I would hate for youto end up on that mountaintop, all alone, because no one will have you.”

He looked in her eyes and understood, maybe for the first time, that from the moment he’d walked into the RX offices, they’d owned him. He should’ve been smarter. Interrogated their power and the risks. But he’d been certain he deserved not only a hot wife, but internet adoration, because wasn’t he special? Hadn’t he done every single thing in his power to make himself so? But now the truth could not be denied.

He was a fool.

“What do you want me to do?” he asked finally.

“Get Edie back, of course!” Carole exclaimed. “Ask her to marry you! Declare your love and slide a rock—that I paid for—onto her finger! What you do after that, I don’t really care. But you’re not leaving until you give America what they want. A happy fucking ending.”

Bennett Charles was in love.

Truly, madly, deeply in love with his high school—and America’s!—sweetheart Edie Pepper.

Or at the very least, he was determined to look like he was.

Edie was standing on her front lawn now with Peter and an all-grown-up Lauren Wasserman while a sound guy adjusted her mic. They would get engaged and do a press tour and he would love her for the incredible friend that she was. Bennett sliced his mallet through the air and the band started up again. So what if he was wearing this stupid uniform or being manipulated into getting engaged to Edie Pepper? He was going to sack it up and do whatever it took to come out of this alive. Bennett Charles was going to war, and this stupid band uniform was just camouflage. He banged his drum, each strike announcingto the world that BENNETT CHARLES LOVES EDIE AND DEFINITELY NOT BAILEY.

Finally, Edie approached. Two color guards rushed up and removed the massive drum from his chest and carted it off like ants with a crumb. He removed his shako and ran a sexy hand through his curls before propping the cap against his hip. She stood before him looking sort of disheveled in sweats and hair that definitely needed to be brushed. Now he understood that the internet would love her coming out here with no makeup, just being herself on TV.Relatable!the captions would scream.

“Hey, Charlie.”

He smiled. At the end of the day, wasn’t Edie the safest choice? He didn’t even know if Bailey loved him. And if he couldn’t count on Edie Pepper to love him, really, he couldn’t count on anything at all.

“Edie,” he began, tossing his cap aside and taking her hands in his own. “From the moment I met you, I knew our lives would be woven together forever. In the words of our favorite band, the Backstreet Boys, ‘You are my fire. My one desire.’”

“Right,” Edie said, clearly uncomfortable. She glanced over her shoulder at Lauren, who was faux gagging on the sidewalk. God, Lauren could be such a bitch.

“You remember, right?” He signaled to the band. They lifted their instruments to the sky and the street was blasted with music once again.

“Of course, I remember!” she yelled over the sound. She waved her arms to get the band to stop. “But that was a long time ago. Things are different now—”

Bennett fell to his knees. Clutched her hands.

“I don’t know why you left,” he said, staring deeply into her eyes. They’d told him she was mad about Zo. That he’ddisrespectedher by sleeping with Zo. “But you’ve got to come back. I’ll do anything to make it right. Anything. I’m nothing without you.”

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